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What are

There are variousmethods to raise manydifferent species ofplant. Often, certainspecies cannot be trans-planted as small seed-lings, and they need tobe sown direct in thegarden or fields. Whenthese species are sown,such as beans, pump-kins, gourds and cu-cumbers, lack of carefor the small plantsmean that many die dueto pests, weeds, lack ofwater, etc., and are wasted. But by sowing in a Leaf Pot nurs-ery, the plants can get the necessary care and attention whenyoung, and be planted out when they are strong and healthy.This saves many seeds and plants from going to waste.

This method of using large leaves to make into pots,filling them with fertile soil and growing seedlings is called aLeaf Pot Nursery.

Leaf Pots ?Leaf Pots ?

Watering leaf pots in a nursery

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots

HowHowmakeLeaf Pots ?

to makeLeaf Pots ?

3

• For growing seedlings which can't be transplanted frombeds, such as some vegetables, fast growing trees or greenmanure seed plants, leaf pots can be used.

• Vegetables such as beans, pumpkin, cucumber, gourds, etc.cannot be transplanted bare-root, so these can be sown inleaf pots.

• Trees and green manure species, such as velvet bean,Sesbania, Crotalaria (such as sunhemp), lab lab bean, etc.,which are to be used for seed production and so need morecare and attention, can be started in leaf pots.

• When seedlings are growing in a leaf pot nursery, they canbe given better care. This helps them to grow well, andalso stops seed and seedlings being wasted.

Choose big, whole, unbroken leaves of the appropriatespecies. These leaves are rolled into a cone and stitched withbamboo pins. This will hold the soil well. After filling withfertile soil, the cones are sown with seed and covered withsoil the same as if using polypots.

WhyWhy

Materials Needed to make Leaf Pots

largeleaves

bamboostrips or rope seed

sticks

bambooposts

crowbarThis Booklet's Author :Chris Evans, advisor,Himalayan Permaculture Group, Nepalwww.designedvisions.com

2

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots4 5

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

Making a Standfor the Leaf Pots

1 metre

1 metre

Dig in 2 up-right stakes

Split the bam-boo and attachhorizontallybetween the 2uprights, tomake a gapwhich the leafpots can fit into.

Filled leaf potsare placed in arack made like

this

Making the Leaf Pots

twist

twist

Use leaves to fit the size of seed-ling grown. Big leaves will

make big pots for big seedlings,and small leaves for small pots

with small seedlings

Take both endsof the leaf andstart to twist

Twist the leafinto a cone

shape with oneend closed

bamboopin

Pin the leaf into acone shape as shown

here

twist

twist

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots6 7

Let's SeeLet's See

2

1

3

4

bamboopin

leaves formaking pots

2 potsready to fill

with soil

Put the rack for holding the leaf potsin the shade. Fill the pots with fertile

soil and place them in the rack

Leaf pot filled withfertile soil ready for

planting seed

Two seedsplanted in the

middle of the pot

how to makeLeaf Pots

how to makeLeaf Pots

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots

6

5

7

8

How tomaintainLeaf Pots

MaintenanceMaintenanceSeed is sown in the potsand covered with a finger

width of soil

Add watercarefully

A seedstartingto grow

These plants needwatering daily

Keeping the pots while seedlings growAfter sowing seed in the leaf pots, they need to be put in

a safe place. The pots can be half buried in a nursery bed, orin a hot bed, as necessary. Another method for keeping leafpots can be called a vertical nursery. This can only be usedfor cone-shaped leaf pots. A vertical nursery doesn't use upany land and can bemade next to thehouse or on the edgeof the courtyard.Seedlings will alsobe safe from chick-ens. See p. 4 for howto build the verticalnursery.

High outputfrom a small

area. Leafpots under anair nursery,

with a pit forliquid manure

at groundlevel.

9

The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots10

Because they are in the air, leaf pots in a vertical nurserycan dry out quickly so need small amounts of water once ortwice a day. If placed in the shade, they will need less water.

Planting the Leaf PotWhen the seedling has grown to the 4 leaf stage it can be

planted out. At the place where it is to be planted, dig a smallhole and fill with compost. Without taking the seedling out ofthe pot, plant both to-gether in the hole. Bydoing this the roots of theseedling aren't disturbed.The leaf pot should becompletely buried. Afterplanting, add mulch andwater well.

Seedlings beingplanted with

their leaf pots

Æ

æ

From Nepal, Surkhet dis-trict, Gumi - 3, Ratadadavillage, and a member of"Hariyali" women's group,Mrs Vishnumaya Shris hasmade her own leaf pots. Nowlet's hear what she says.

Farmers'ExperienceFarmers'Experience

Mrs VishnumayaShris

Mrs Vishnumaya Shris

If we plant various typesof seed direct onto the landmany can die, or not growwell. So we make leaf pots,filling them with soil andsowing them with seeds suchas pumpkin, cucumber, beans, cow pea, bitter gourd, bottlegourd, etc., especially the climbing vegetables. We keep thepots in a vertical rack made from bamboo. We tie split bam-boo in between 2 upright posts which leaves a gap perfect forholding the leaf pots. The pots need watering every day.Seedlings grow faster than if sown direct in the field, and areready to plant out 2-3 weeks after sowing. We found thatthese plants suffer less from insect pests than others, perhapsbecause they're stronger. We share these skills in the group. Iteach to some, and learn from others.

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Gri

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Read On !Subjects Related to Leaf Pots

This book provides enough information to be able tomake and grow plants in your own leaf pots. However, thisinformation is also linked to other methods. For extra benefitslet's read, learn and practice from other related chapters.

Mixed VegetableGardening

chapter

Kitchen Gardenchapter

Leaf pots arevery useful insuccessful veg-etable gardening.Information aboutthis and othereasy methods forhome-producinghealthy vegetablesat low cost isgiven in thischapter

With less weed-ing, watering andother work, andharvesting vari-ous types ofvegetables from3 weeks afterplanting, lastingup to 6 months.Information onthis easy tech-nique is given inthis chapter

Hot Bedchapter

This chapterdescibes howto use leaf potseedlings alongwith othervarieties in ahot bed togrow off sea-son vegetables

Leaf Pot chapter

Read On !